- We are currently accepting submissions of quality science fiction and fantasy writing of 500 to 6,000 words. We are willing to include genre hybrids (a fantasy mystery, space comedy, or technological horror, for example). We want well-written stories that entertain - stories that the reader cannot stop reading until the story is finished. Don't be afraid to submit fantasy or sword-and-sorcery stories just because the name of the magazine "sounds sci-fi". We find that most of we like has been more character-based.
- Pay is 1 cent per word plus a single copy of the issue containing the published story for accepted work. This is for "first North American serial rights". (Expect this to increase as the magazine grows in popularity.)
- Accepted submissions may be published in any issue within 1 year of acceptance. If the story is not published, the author is still entitled to payment (payment upon acceptance).
- Writer retains full copyright but may not re-publish story within 1 year of publication. Keep in mind that this may tie up a story for as long as 2 years if a story is not published until the 12th month after acceptance.
- Zeta Centauri, Inc. reserves the right to re-publish the story in a "best of" anthology at any time. We will pay the author 50% of what we paid for the original submission. This is what you would call "an option on anthology rights".
- Please no simultaneous submissions.
- Please no reprints - we are only interested in work that has not yet been published.
- Please send complete stories - no partial submissions.
- No query is necessary. If you think your story meets our requirements, just send it. Queries just slow things down.
- Please be sure to include a valid return address, email address, and phone number. We prefer e-mail correspondence and that is the first method of contact we will try.
- Please no more than two submissions per writer at one time. Please only one attachment per email so extra attachments aren't overlooked [two submissions = two emails].
- Stories are welcome all year round. We are never closed to submissions.
- Stories should be edited for grammar and spelling. Even so, occasionally something slips by the spellchecker. We reserve the right to correct obvious errors, but please don't make us need to.
- It is recommended that you study the magazine before submitting - this will improve your chances of acceptance. We realize this will be impossible before the first issue is published, so it is just something to keep in mind for the future.
- We prefer email submissions because they're faster, save postage, and prevent us from having to retype a story. Even so, if you prefer to use postal mail, feel free to do so.
- We can accept just about any file format - RTF, TXT, DOC, SXW, etc. If you can open the file in Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org, we can read it. We generally prefer file attachments over the whole story being pasted into an email.
- Our response time is currently 1-2 weeks. This may fluctuate based on volume, but we will do our best to reply within two weeks. If you do not hear from us in three weeks, feel free to ask whether we have had a chance to review your submission. We do keep a log of every submission and do not delete received email. You are welcome to report our response times to Duotrope and/or the Black Hole.
- Feel free to include a short bio in your submission (not required, and we prefer them 75 words or less). We like double-spaced manuscripts (not required) and like to see full contact information and word count at the top of an attached document (also not required). None of these things will affect your chance of acceptance. They're just nice things to do that make our lives a little easier, and luckily most of you already do so.

- Stories that have been previously published or posted on the internet.
- Stories that have been previously published in English or in North America (we do, however, accept translations of stories previously published in another language). Under no circumstances will be publish a reprint.
- Random, disjoint 'acid-trip' type stories. A spirit journey is rarely interesting reading.
- Stories revolving around contemporary religious content. No heaven-and-hell stories.
- Poetry.

Things you can send, but we are very unlikely to want unless they're incredibly good (so you're better off not even trying):

- "Twisted fairy tales" - continuations or permutations of common fairly tales. You know, Little Red Riding Robot, Alice in Gondwanaland, etc.
- Contemporary fiction with only a slight fantasy or science fiction element. This especially includes anything where any fantastic/sci-fi elements were thrown in as an afterthought in the hopes that it would make the story eligible for inclusion in a sci-fi/fantasy publication.
- "Waking up from a dream" stories.
- Stories containing excessive misogyny.
- Anything with a prophet whose coming has been foretold. This includes characters with prophetic birthmarks.

- As part of the image caption we will allow you to publish one web link to your artwork. [Keep in mind this is not for the purpose of advertising products - it is for promoting your artwork. Don't give us links to used car sites you just happened to design the logo for - we want to showcase your work.]
- Publishing terms are the same as above (may be published within 1 year, option on anthology rights for 50%).
- Submissions accepted by email or via postal mail on CD or DVD. Images should be at least 300 DPI (600 is preferable, especially for cover art). Formats we can read are TIFF, JPEG, PSD, GIF, and PNG. Lossy formats like JPEG are not recommended. Submitting a large file via email is sometimes not possible, so you are welcome to submit a web or FTP download link to the file you would like us to consider. We can receive files up to 20 megabytes in size, although many mail providers limit attachment sizes to 1, 3, or 5 megabytes - chances are that your mail server won't let you send something as large as our maximum.
- We accept work in both color and B/W. Cover art will be printed in color. Interior non-cover art will be printed in black and white.

Advertising

- Advertising space is available. Circulation numbers have yet to be determined. For the first issue, a black-and-white business-card-sized ad will be $15, a half page will be $25, and a full page will be $40. Back cover and inside front cover slots are availble in color for an additional 50%.
- We will not be placing any advertising in our first issue and intend to restrict advertising space to a very bare minimum.

If you have a concern about any of our submission requirements, feel free to contact us. We can be flexible for the right story or image.

When you are ready to submit, click HERE to go to our web submission form.

A story can be rejected for any number of reasons - it's not good enough, too long, too short, we're out of space for the next issue(s), we just bought a story with a near-identical plot, our mix of one specific genre has been too heavy lately, we've gone over budget this week, we're doing a green-themed issue and nothing in your story is mentioned about anything being green, etc.

On occasion, we may provide a reason for declining to purchase a particular submission. Please take it in the spirit in which it is intended - we love to read great fiction and the more great fiction there is in the world, the happier we are.

We reserve the right to simply say that we are not interested in a story without giving a specific reason, and as a general policy we will not respond to questions as to why a story was rejected.

Simply put, we are not in the business of teaching people to write. Every minute we spend explaining or debating the finer points of what does or does not work about a story is a minute we're not spending on reading new submissions or otherwise working on the magazine.

If your story was rejected, there are three productive things we suggest you do:
1) Hone your craft.
2) Submit it to another magazine.
3) Write another story and submit it to us.

Even the best get rejected. Don't take it personally. We don't hate you.

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